MASS INSECT CONTROL PROGRAMS: 
FOUR CASE HISTORIES* 
By William L. Brown, Jr. 
Department of Entomology, Cornell University 
PREFACE 
Insect control is a vast subject. It encompasses many methods of 
approach meant to protect a wide diversity of human resources, in- 
cluding the lives and health of humans themselves. Upon the success 
or failure of insect control programs have rested the fate of armies, 
of great canals and populous lands. Yet, though man has registered 
many practical successes against particular insect menaces, we do not 
yet understand fully the underlying dynamics of insect populations 
(or for that matter, of other animals, including man himself), and 
until we do, perfect control will probably continue to elude us in 
many cases. 
However, there exist practical measures that have been used suc- 
cessfully to control or eradicate many kinds of insects, even though 
Figure 1. Insecticide sales by U. S. producers in recent years, projected 
through to the end of 1961. Domestic consumption of insecticides actually 
declined slightly during 1960 in the U. S., but exports more than made up 
this dip. From Chemical Week, July 22, 1961, by permission. 
*This study and the report were sponsored and supported by the Conserva- 
tion Foundation, New York. 
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